Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard enjoyed a sensational season despite his side falling just short in the Premier League title race.
The Norweigan was outstanding in 2024, with his consistently superb displays helping Arsenal win 16 of their last 18 league games, and he hit a new level of individual performance.
Odegaard has now won Arsenal’s Player of the Season award, with Declan Rice coming second and William Saliba in third, but despite fans being shocked at the omission of Bukayo Saka from the top three, Odegaard is a worthy winner.
The 25-year-old led by example on and off the pitch, and he has now made Arsenal history by winning the award.
Martin Odegaard wins consecutive Arsenal Player of the Season awards
Odegaard won the award after an outstanding campaign in 2022-23 in which he scored 15 Premier League goals as Arsenal went from a top-four chasing side to one competing for the title.
He has now followed that up with this season’s award, and is now one of just three Arsenal players to ever win the award in consecutive campaigns in Premier League history.
The legendary Thierry Henry won the award four times, with three of them coming in consecutive seasons between 2002 and 2005 as he cemented himself as arguably the best player in Premier League history.
Other players in Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez have won the award on multiple occasions, but no one did it in back to back seasons since Saka in 2020-21 and 2021-22, as he shone in a difficult spell for Arsenal.
Odegaard has now joined Saka and Henry as the third player to manage this remarkable feat, and he will hope to make it a hattrick next season.
How Martin Odegaard recovered from slow start to deliver outstanding Arsenal campaign
Odegaard actually started this season in an underwhelming manner as he initially struggled in a new midfield role which saw him push into more advanced positions at the edge of the box.
He did provide several goals and assists in this time, including a stunning low drive against Manchester United in September, but until December, his form was hit and miss.
However, he has been remarkable since, with Gary Neville even labelling him as the best player in the Premier League.
Odegaard’s combination of technical supremacy, flair, vision and work rate makes him Arteta’s ideal midfielder and captain, and Arsenal are now in the market to help find the perfect player to support him and Rice in the middle.